The Heron's Nest: Your Tuesday Morning Road Report

Do yourself a favor. Pull the covers up over your head and leave a note saying you’re not coming out again until spring.

In other words, it’s a mess out there.

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I’m not sure if it was the timing or what, but this is one of the worst rides in I’ve had in this miserable winter. All the roads I traveled on were snow-covered.

The main roads are packed down, but the side roads are not. Maybe the worst thing is that the snow managed to hide the potholes. They’re out there and they’re deeper than ever, judging from the filling-loosening hits I was taking on the way in this morning.

When I walked into the office just before 5 a.m., it was snowing like nobody’s business. The TV folks say it is actually starting to taper off, but I saw no evidence of that.

West Chester Pike and Springfield Road were both snow-covered. That’s pretty unusual. Most of my rides home they have been for the most part slushy. Not this morning. They are covered.

How bad was it? Well, before I backed the car out of the driveway, I had to shovel the accumulated snow again. We had a least a fresh inch on the ground. I cleared off the car for about the thousandth time this winter, then I headed out.

I was somewhat surprised that the roads did not appear to be plowed. I saw lots of crews, so maybe they were just getting started.

The snow arrived overnight, and it’s supposed to start trailing off later this morning, and the temperature actually is going to hit the 40s later this afternoon.

Here’s a pleasant thought: Anyone think about where all this snow is going to go once it starts melting? That’s right, probably in your basement. Of course, that is if your roof holds up.

Look, it’s been a miserable winter. You know the drill. I’m guessing the morning commute is going to be a mess.

We’ll get through it.

I think.

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OFF AND RUNNING IN THE 26TH

I have said previously that it would not be a bad idea for embattled Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to spend a lot of time in Delaware County as he seeks a second term.

Specifically, he should take the opportunity to stand next to Tom McGarrigle every chance he gets.

The Republican will be challenged by Democrat John Kane, a union leader from Ridley Park.

Corbett desperately needs to improve his tanking poll numbers.

That’s why I thought it was so interesting yesterday that one of the first things McGarrigle said was that he disagreed with the governor when it comes to taxing the Marcellus Shale boom in the state.

That’s something Corbett would not do, settling instead for a “extraction fee.”

McGarrigle would like to use some of that missing revenue to help in the ever-escalating education funding mess.

Should make for some interesting discussions on the campaign trail.

At this point, there’s not a lot Corbett can do about it. Bottom line is he probably needs McGarrigle more than McGarrigle needs him. Corbett is not particularly popular, in particular here in southeastern Pennsylvania, where people are still smarting from those austere budgets he put in place in his first three years.

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Pothole Palooza takes off in Delco

Looks like I struck a nerve with yesterday’s blog item looking for the worst roads in Delco in terms of potholes.

It sounds like it is “hole-y hell” out there on the roads.

We’ve been inundated with your suggestions.

In fact, we’ve decided to collect all your suggestions and present them on Sunday in a special package. Make sure you send us photos of the worst potholes in the county that we can include in our package.

Send your suggestions and photos to reporter Jeff Wolfe at jwolfe@delcotimes.com. Of if you want you can send them to me at editor@delcotimes.com.